The vast and sparsely populated county, with 12.5 percent unemployment, was counting on the Echanis project to provide 100 construction jobs and up to 12 full-time maintenance jobs, said Steven E. Grasty, chairman of the county commission.

"I have never seen anything deflate a community the way that lawsuit did," Grasty said, other than the loss of the Edward Hines Lumber Co. sawmill in 1980. "This is equal to about 1,500 jobs in Portland. Huge, huge impact."

Only two other counties -- Grant and Crook -- had a higher jobless rate in March.

For some of the county's 7,422 residents, losing the project also would waste a commodity that the area has in spades. During a 24-hour test in January 2010, the average wind speed clocked on the north face of Steens Mountain was 41 mph. Chris Crowley, president of Columbia Energy Partners, the Echanis developer, said that may be unique in Oregon.

Crowley said he has been advised by his attorneys not to discuss the lawsuit. The company is still waiting for permits for its Riddle Mountain project 14 miles north of Steens Mountain. It has abandoned plans for two other similar-sized wind projects near Steens Mountain.

The lawsuit focuses on findings in a BLM environmental impact statement released last July that the turbines and transmission lines would be visible from less than one-half of 1 percent of the 170,000-acre Steens Mountain Wilderness.

Portland Audubon and the Oregon Natural Desert Association argue that the figure is meaningless because the Steens Wilderness encompasses only a fraction of the entire Steens Mountain area. Both sides seem to agree that the 415-foot-tall rolled-steel turbines would be seen from Mann Lake, Fields-Denio Road on the east side of Steens Mountain and the Steens Loop Road on the summit, but not from Frenchglen or the Alvord Desert.

The groups claim the transmission lines, wind turbines, access roads and associated developments also would threaten migratory routes and breeding areas for bighorn sheep, golden eagles and sage grouse. Further, they would slice across one of the largest remaining undeveloped landscapes in the Northwest's Great Basin, Sallinger said.